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A portrait a week for a year. The final week. Thank you for going on this journey with me. I have loved watching my sweet baby girl grow from the beginning pictures of 2013. I look back and am in awe of her changes and it doesn't seem like a year has gone and I have an (gasp!) almost 3 year old!

This week: Wearing the new kimono sent by cousins in Japan. I'm not sure I've tied it correctly, must google that.

Hi. It's Wednesday and that means it is time for the weekly yarn along. I am joining Ginny and everyone to share yarn and books. I love reading what everyone is working on and reading. I took this yarn with me when we went to Tokyo back in November. I had grand plans of starting and finishing this baby girl sweater on the 12 hour flight to Japan. That so did not happen. I started it three times and by the time we got home I had only finished the mindless stockinette stitch section.

I just got word yesterday that the mama will be induced tonight due to some complications. Baby girl was due on Christmas Day. Given that I am going to work tomorrow and will work for rest of the month (except for the 25th) I was not going to finish by Christmas. I've only finished two of the six eight row repeats so I just hope to finish this cute little sweater by the time we visit the first week of January.

No news on the book front. I have had no time to read. I am still reading Knit the Season by Kate Jacobs. And I've renewed The Closers three times now onto my kindle app.

Several weeks ago my mom asked me if I had noticed Corrine's right eye looking crossed. I had to admit that I had seen it several times but it was so fast I wasn't sure I had really seen it. So I made an appointment for her at the pediatric ophthalmologist. I was very impressed with how they did their eye exams by using toys and stuffed animals. They also did a dilated eye exam. The eyes drops made her cross eye very pronounced, so much so that every time she looked up her eyes were crossed. It made me want to cry.

The Doctor diagnosed her with Accommodative Esotropia, which is basically a focusing problem. All kids are farsighted to a point but C's problem is she has to focus extra and it makes her eye cross. Her glasses do not improve her farsightedness but rather the glasses do the focusing so her eye muscles remain straight. It is something that kids typically out grow by the time they are 10-12 so we are keeping our fingers crossed she won't need her glasses for her whole life.

When I got the news she would need glasses I immediately thought to get her some super cute frames. Luckily the lady in the frame shop steered me in the right direction. She said that they usually sell kids under three some flex frames. To say I was disappointed would be an understatement. Her frames are a rubberized flexible frame that bend and flex and take a beating that a three year old will dish out. (On Monday after we picked them up she wasn't wearing them and I asked her where they were. Come to find out she had them around her waist! I told her they weren't a belt and they needed to stay on her face). The glasses also have a head band to help keep them on her face. Plus these frames actually fit her small face a lot better.

It's Wednesday again and I'm joining Ginny and everyone for the weekly yarn along. It's all about the books and yarn. I don't really have a lot to update this week. You would think that a week of sub zero temps would find me wrapped up on the couch with needles in hand, but alas, it didn't happen. I finished the second of the two grey aviator hats and worked a bit on the baby sweater (which I didn't take a picture of). But I started my November square for the square swap group. I thought I was finished with the knitting for that group, but it just goes on and on and on. I haven't done my October square yet because I won't have enough of the requested color and I haven't been the store yet. I am doing my November square in the Irish Moss Stitch pattern and I'm using size 11 needles. I'm hoping to fly through this square in a couple of days.

As for reading, I just pulled Knit the Season by Kate Jacobs off the bookshelf. I loved the other two books in this series and with Christmas just around the corner, I thought it was a great time to start the book.

* It's bloody cold! Last night at 7pm it was 3 degrees. When I let the dogs out at 4am it was -8 and right now it is -3 and it is almost 8am. The big Newfie loves the snow, but I worry about his feet in this super cold weather so both dogs are in the house a lot more right now. And I bought a heat lamp to put in the chicken coop. I'm not sure if the ladies really needed it, but it makes me feel better knowing that it is there for them.

* On Tuesday (when it was in the 50's) I dug up the last of the carrots out of the garden and cut them up for the boys. They love carrots in their kibble. And about two hours after I dug the carrots the temperatures started dropping.

* Two days after we returned home from Japan my car died. I thought it would be an easy repair until my mechanic called and said he didn't have good news. The timing belt broke (which I had replaced 4 or 5 years ago) and basically shredded the engine. The estimated cost was $5K. The car was worth, in excellent condition, $2K. Basically not worth it to fix. Plus it needed brakes and there was a mysterious rattle in the front left wheel/axle area. I so did not want to buy a new (used) car. My car was paid for and I had expected to drive it until it died. I just didn't think it would die so soon! Buying a car ranks as one of the worst things ever to do with your time!

It's Wednesday again and after a short hiatus, I'm joining Ginny and others for the weekly yarn along. It's all about the books and yarn as we share what we've been working on and reading. So...a few weeks back we went to Japan to visit my brother and his family. I decided to go yarn shopping to bring back something to remember our trip by. I did find some Noro, but I can buy that on my LYS so I passed on that. Bryan bought me this cute little fingerless mitt kit. You can't tell by the picture, but the back of mitt is an owl and it comes with the beads for the eyes. Did I ever stop to think that the pattern was in Japanese? Nope. I can figure it out up to the palm of the hand and after that I'm going to need a translator! Anyone?

I had a very hard time buying yarn. For one, most of the yarn was made in Italy. Nothing wrong with that since it isn't anything I've seen in the states, but I expected to buy yarn made in Japan. Anyhoo, I am not one to buy yarn just to have in my stash. I buy yarn when I have a pattern in mind and know what I am making and how much yarn to buy. I decided to buy this purple to make a hat for Corrine. I bought some lovely rust/orange yarn, but I'm not sure what to do with it (more on that later).

Nothing new on my bookshelf that I'm reading. I am still reading The Closer by Michael Connelly. I finally finished The Lighthouse by P.D. James. It started slowly but really picked up as the book progressed. What I really liked about the book was I was not able to figure out "whodonit" before the the Detectives! That makes it a good book in my opinion.